That's really unfortunate, and results in a lot of non-self-aware political bickering.
That's really unfortunate, and results in a lot of non-self-aware political bickering.
For an overview and references, see:
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myth_of_meritocracy
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meritocracy#Meritocracy_trap
Most objections to progressive policies boil down to the idea that the more fortunate people deserve what they have, and that redistribution would make less fortunate people not work as hard. In other words, the world is unfair because of "hand-wavy general incentives".
I am aware that second paragraph was not a great steel-man, and there are many variants and nuances of these positions, but generally the implicit assumption is that we have good (I did not say perfect) vertical mobility, when in reality this is not usually the case.
> believing where they are due to well executed systemic conspiracies rather than their mistakes, missteps, or a simple lack of motivation or ability
the implication certainly is that if you don't make mistakes, missteps, work hard and have talent - in other words if you are full of merit - you'll assuredly end up in a good place
sounds like saying we live in a meritocracy
I am one of those people who certainly missed the boat due to my own missteps, mistakes, lack of motivation
But let's talk about those who don't/didn't have the favourable circumstances and opportunities I had/have
Is not being able to afford / be-accepted-for a life changing college degree that person's fault 50% of the time ? is it their parents' fault ? is it the grandparents' fault that the parents weren't better off ? if so ... where does this blame game stop ? at some point govt/society needs to step in and give you a boost regardless of your background
debatably, inheritance & land ownership are well executed systemic conspiracies
mistakes, missteps, lack of motivation, are all fine - but "lack of ability" ? you're arguing against yourself there - if there is such a thing as lack of ability - that's certainly a terrible reason to disqualify a person from having their basic needs met
I think this is a good point. Nobody should be disqualified, and there are in fact many programs available to help people achieve their personal best.
Community college is an excellent stepping stone, as are vocational training programs. These are available in some states at a very low cost.
There is self-affirmation in achieving completion of any project, and completion of a training program that enables one to work, to create, to contribute and to develop self-agency is a wonderful thing to do.
I’m not sure what kind of society you are arguing against, because it’s not the one we have.
We now see this kind of thing even infecting our education system, and it's driving a lot of liberal people to the political right. Look at how Asian American voters acted in the recent San Francisco school board recall, for example. (Also: try telling those people that their success in our society is due to luck, even though they came here in poverty and were discriminated against every step of the way...)
The idea is that we want the system to be more meritocratic, and that a good place to start is to acknowledge that it's currently not as meritocratic as we tend to think. That's what the "meritocratic trap" is: thinking we have meritocracy when we don't.
That was always reductionist. Many emigres from China, Japan, Korea, USSR states, the Middle East and India arrived with high education levels. For 20th century society, where war could blow up or seize all your assets, education you ship with you in your brain is wealth that matters. Lots of uneducated people left behind in those countries, they just died or their life sucks now.
It is true that life situations (poverty, lack of parental assistance, safety and security, cultural roadblocks, etc.) are impediments to successful participation in school.
But is “access to education” a a demonstrable problem? Many states offer very low cost or free access to community college higher education.
Some search queries I recommend (just as a starting point):
- "Factors in access to education"
- "Access to education causal"
- "Access to education in America"
- "Access to education world data"
- "Access to education developing countries"
- "Public education and vertical mobility"
- "Relationship between education and innovation"
- "Relationship between education and health"
- "Public health and economic productivity
- "Access to education and marginalized groups"
The “racial or cultural superiority therefore black kids are fucked” thing you’re really believe in is stupid. It’s unactionable and nobody gives a fuck about that perspective. There are like a handful of legitimate ways to address the scarce spots for everyone not just high achievers, but the racial and cultural superiority people don’t spend even one iota of their time or one cent of their dollars making the good schools bigger. It’s a profoundly immature point of view, and its immaturity should give you insight for why people don’t like you.